Happy New Year Everybody

My wish for everyone is that you will all have a Happy and a Blessed New year. Be safe this New Years Eve Night everyone. I wish everyone good health and happiness in 2010. I hope everyone can see the Blue Moon tonight. It is supposed to rain and maybe some snow showers here tonight so that means I probably won't get to see it.

Helen

I need to do this

Merry Christmas To All For Friday

I am posting my entry today because everyone will be so busy tomorrow, going here and there and running around getting ready for that Special Day.

My wish for everyone is for them to have a very Merry Christmas wherever and whomever you  are during this special season. May you remember what this season is all about and give praise to our King.

This is the most special day of the year.

Remember each Child and pray that they receive a gift of love for Christmas. 

I hope everyone has the most blessed Christmas ever. May God be with you and keep you safe. 
My thanks to Sugar for most of my graphics.

The church where we went - Check out the blue sky

I mentioned in my last post that we were to go put flowers on my Parents and my Babies graves. I did go with Ken and am

no worse for wear. Mira met us there and I got a hug.

I was a member of this Baptist Church for twenty years. I joined this church when I was eleven years old and my faith is still strong. It dawned on me that I didn't have a picture of this church anywhere so while I had my camera with me I went ahead and took a picture of it. It has some Sunday school rooms in the back in an add on building. To the left side and behind is a very large cemetery. My family is buried in the back part of the cemetery. To the right is a road and across the road is a large building where they have dinners and such.

My mother taught Sunday School there for twenty six years until she got to be unable to attend church on account of several mini strokes which affected her mind. We found out she also had cancer soon after that and lived seven more months. On the day of her funeral the Sunday school members cooked a large lunch for our family members in the large meeting center. 

My Grandparents on my Dad's side and one of his brothers is buried to the left. Another of his brothers is buried in the back. His grandparents are buried in the side center.

 My GG grandparents on my Mothers side are buried about in the middle of the cemetery. One of my Mother's sisters is buried in the plot with my parents. There are probably some older family members somewhere there that I know nothing about. 

There are also some old graves with no markers in center of the cemetery and no one knows who they were.

Have a good Tuesday everyone and may it be a blessed one. Helen

Getting closer

Well here we are getting closer and closer. Santa is getting close to Alabama.

                                                                      

We have been doing a little toward getting ready but it's a slow go. Fortunately we didn't have any snow to cope with this weekend. 

I went back to the eye doc last week and the pressure in my eyes are still pretty high. He changed my eye drops and wrote a new prescription for some more. Well I looked on my insurance and it is is the highest tier so needless to say I will see if he can change that to something else today. He is is this town only on Monday's but it being this close to Christmas he may not be in today. I will call before I go. Meanwhile I am still using my current drops. 

Will everyone visit Jon who recently lost his mother and doesn't have any family or friends  close by to be with him this Christmas. I know it will be a lonely one for him. Thanks.

One day this week we will or Ken will go take Christmas flowers to the cemetery for my parents and my two baby boys. It takes about and hour and a half to get there and then have to come back. I certainly don't want to be where I can't motivate around for Christmas so Ken has offered and I may let him take them because I still have things to do and things to cook here.

The economy being what it is we are playing Dirty Santa again this year, Everyone enjoys doing that and has so much fun.

 Well I have sit here long enough. Time to go back to bed. I am having one of those regular sleepless nights where I sleep a couple of hours then have to get up and mess around a while until I get sleepy again. I do this every night so that is nothing new. This when I make some of my blog entry's. My back gets stiff and hurts so I get up and move around for a while.

Thanks Sugar for most of my graphics 

 I Hope everyone has a blessed Monday.

Ken's eyes

Hello everybody. It has been a while since I made an entry so I thought it was about time to do that.

Ken went back to the eye doc this morning and the doc says the bleeding has stopped to come back in six weeks to let him check it again. Said his visual range was better. I suppose that is because the bleeding was hindering his vision.

I have been putting out a few Christmas decorations and have my small fiber optic tree out.

Trying to clean a little before Christmas but with these two dogs and their shedding I will have to do it again LOL. Guess I am just wasting my time. 

Wish I had something interesting to say but I haven't been getting out much to see anything to talk about LOL.

Have a blessed night everyone.

Helen

Happy Thanksgiving

I Hope everyone has a blessed Thanksgiving.

Helen

 

Ken's eye and other things

Good morning all, well Ken made it to the Retina doc last week. He inserted dye into a vein in his arm and took pictures of the eye. What was dry macular degeneration has now turned into the wet kind and some small veins were bleeding so they gave him a shot into the eye to dissolve the blood. He says it will not help the seeing of the eye but will keep it from degenerating farther. He goes back in a month to let him look at it again.

Well my flowers have just about seen their last days but here are a couple of pictures I took a couple of weeks ago when the sun was shining really bright.
 Click on pictures to get better view and to center them. I have no idea why they are always placed to look like you have not done a very good job of getting it all in a picture.

Some sort of dragonfly.

Have a blessed day everybody. Helen

In Honor Of All Veterans

Thanks Sugar for the great graphic.

This morning as I was checking out at a local store the clerk asked the man behind me if he was a Veteran. He said yes. 

I turned to him and told him "Thank you for serving us and our Country".  He said " you're welcome, I was in the Navy".

She was getting some kind of paper out of a stack. I was hoping it was a big discount coupon but I didn't see what it was.

A big thank you to all our Veterans past and present for defending us and our great country to retain our freedom. 

Sending up a prayer for those and their families also who didn't make it or have gone on before. 

A big hug to all of you. 

Helen

Butterflies bout gone

 
Click for larger view

This one could hardly keep it's balance, It's wings were

continuously fluttering. I almost didn't get a still picture,

This is the way I feel, about gone. 

Have a blessed afternoon everyone, Helen

Ken eye doc visit and Eastern Bluebird pictures

Hi All, Yesterday Ken went to his eye doc expecting to get tested for a set of new eye glasses, well that was not to be the case. The doc found some hemorrhaging in back of his left eye that he has already had five surgeries on. So he set him up with an appointment with a Retina Doc the 13th of November in another City. I hope they can take care of it with laser treatment. We shall have to wait an see.

Early yesterday morning I looked out the storm door and heard and saw the pair of Eastern Bluebirds making a fuss and trying to scare something out of their box. Their soft fussing wouldn't scare a bee off. They were diving at the box and peeking in the door. I couldn't see what it was but grabbed my camera not realizing the flash was on. It blurred against the glass making the picture look foggy. I didn't see what was in the box until later when I looked at the pictures. I was focusing on the Bluebirds LOL. I quickly turned the flash off. It had already scared the female off so I grabbed a shot of the male.These birds over winter in the old nesting material in the box.They also raise two nestlings of babies in that old box in the spring and summer.

Have a blessed day today. May the sun shine brightly where ever you live and may you see a beautiful Bluebird to brighten your day. Helen

Thanks and It's colder this morning

Good morning all,  First of all I would like to thank everyone for your visit to Sara's Blog. I know she appreciated each visit, each prayer and every word of encouragement that you sent up and left for her and her family.

It is a lot colder here this morning. For the first time this fall I turned on a little heat last night. It has been coming on a good bit all night and this morning. It was only 46º outside but with it being cloudy and the wind blowing it seemed much colder. It's going to be colder than that tonight. We will probably see our first frost of the season tomorrow morning. The leaves haven't even changed but a little so it looks like the colder weather may keep them from turning much. We shall see. I wanted to get out for a while to get some pictures if they ever turn. 
Mira went to her back doc here Wednesday and he was pleased at how she was doing but her back still hurts a good bit. He wants her to have another MRI in Jan. then see him a few days after that. This is the longest drive she has made since her surgery and the ordeal she went through. The long trip effected her hip and leg a lot. She is in a good deal of pain this morning.


I have been having some eye trouble the last couple of months with the pressure running high. My eye doc thinks it is the beginning of glaucoma. He has been running all kinds of test but still not 100% sure. The pressure has come down a good bit because he has me on eye drops. I see him again in Dec.

Well news is running short for a stay at home person. 


Here are some flowers from a neighbor's back yard two doors down. I just used my regular zoom on this. I am sorry to say he is no longer living now. He passed on this summer. He worked in his yard about all the time until he got in such bad shape and I miss seeing him out there.
The red building was his work shop. He built all kinds of things including the gazebo on the left. He also built the patio and steps and railings to his shop.

This is a couple of flowers from across the fence in our neighbors yard on the other side. The Gold one is an Angel Trumpet that was full of trumpets about two weeks ago but I missed getting a picture of that. I have no idea what the pink one is. Some type of fall Azalea I think. All the flowers around here are about gone now.

Have a blessed weekend everyone. Helen

Prayers for Sara and her family

Hello everybody. I wanted to ask for prayers for Sara and her family who lost her Brother In Law over the weekend. I have been reading her blog for several months and have enjoyed watching her train her two Sheltie dogs Misty and Oreo. Misty is an older dog of hers that she has trained a good bit lately and Oreo is her younger dog who she is training who is so smart. He has won several Blue Ribbons doing the things Sara has trained him to do. Both of them are beautiful dogs and Sara is a wonderful person who is a school teacher. If you will please go by her blog and leave some words of encouragement for the family. Click here >> Here is Sara's blog .

Several of my readers have mentioned Ken in my last entry. He is feeling much better. Thank you for your kind words.
We both went to get groceries this morning, one headed in one direction and one in the another. It worked out pretty good. I tell you that if a person didn't have to eat, money would go much farther LOL.

This picture is a Butterfly Ginger Plant. It smells just like a Gardenia and blooms in the late summer and fall.
Wish I could put the scent right on this blog for your enjoyment.



Have a blessed day everyone and thanks again for your prayers and support for my family and me. Now I am off to lay down with an ice pack for this back.
Helen

Ken and more butterflies

Good Morning everybody,
Ken has been under the weather this week but feeling better this morning. Allergies I believe. He went to the doc Tuesday and they ran some test. No flu but he had some good indications of it but thankfully it was not.
It has turned much cooler here this week.
Daisy Mae and Patches are all curled up each morning because it is cooler.
I am trying not to turn the heat on yet. The butterflies are out in the afternoons when it gets warmer.


Under wings of the Painted Lady.


Clouded Sulphur

Have a blessed day everyone. Helen

Butterflies and flood victims

Will everyone please remember the 10 victims of the floods in GA and AL and their families in prayer. Schools are still closed in many places on account of flooding inside the schools and the water supply is not sanitary.
My daughter went in this morning to get some of her work caught up with and she says the whole school stinks. When she walked down the hall past the bathrooms she gagged on account of the smell. Some of the rooms have water spots in them which stink. One school has had water 12 inches deep for 72 hours and lots of homes have standing water in them. She is safe in her home.
Now on to better things, Here is a video of a Buckeye Butterfly on a flower.




Click on for a larger view.

Gulf Fritillary



Have a blessed day everyone. Count your blessings each day. Helen

Having a little fun Sunday

Ken has caught two more possums since my last entry. He and both dog have gone this morning relocating one. He takes them about 10 or more miles away to some woods to let them go. No, he will not let the dogs out. Patches especially would try chasing it.

It is going to be a rainy day here which it has been doing this weekend. Some schools are closed here today and where Mira works in GA also because of flooding.

Have a blessed day everyone. Helen

Doctors, dogs and other things LOL

Hello everybody, I went back to the eye Doc Monday and the pressure is down ten points in the eye that he did laser on from what it was two weeks earlier. He wants to wait a while to do the cataract surgery in the other eye. I go back in three months for another pressure check but meanwhile I have to stay on the drops twice a day to keep the pressure down.
It has been thundering around today but only a sprinkle of rain here so far. There were tornado warnings out about midway of the state. I hope no bad weather comes through here. We live on the NE side of it.

We went to Walmarts this morning to get a few things and when I went back to the car Ken took the buggy and put it back in place. When we got home my purse was nowhere to be found. He took off back to Walmarts and someone had turned it in to the desk. I had left it in the buggy. It was hard to believe no one had bothered anything in it.

I saw Patches all curled up asleep on the back of the couch asleep this morning so I got my camera but she keeps an eye on that camera and had already stretched out some when I came back. She likes to get on back of the couch so that is why the old sheet stays there.


The neighbors have been seeing an Opossum on their porch where they keep their dogs food out. She wanted Ken to see if he could catch it so here it is. He relocated it close to some woods. It was hard to get a picture of it because when I got where I could see it's face it would turn around and hide it's face. He will reset the trap and see if he catches anymore.



Have a blessed afternoon everyone. Helen

Went to see Mira Yesterday, Sunday

Good morning everybody, I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday weekend.
Yesterday Ken and I and the two dogs made a trip over to see Mira. We we glad to see her and the dogs had such a fit over getting to see her.
I should have taken my camera but didn't.
We took lunch over and shared it with her then left some leftovers for another meal for her. We did a few things for her that she still can't do as she still can't bend over to do them. She is doing so much better though and is walking almost back to normal. Her back is straightened out a lot from one hip being higher than the other one. She still has some pain when she overdoes things and she still can't sit and drive very far. She is still wearing her brace and uses the pole Ken made her for walking especially at school where she has long hallways to have to walk. She worked full time last week but I know this weekend was a blessing for her to rest some.
Everyone have a blessed and safe Labor Day and next week.

Here are a couple of pictures not from yesterday though. I made one a few months back and the other one Saturday. Helen

This and that

Thought I would play catch up and make an entry today.
Mira is doing much better but is still working half days at least through this week. Thank the Good Lord. Prayers are being answered. Thank you all.

I have been feeling much more rested but still having back problems.

Monday Ken took me to the eye Doc where we spent three hours with all kinds of tests being run. They did find I had the beginning of glaucoma on one eye which I was sorry to hear. The pressure in that eye had been to high for too long even with me using drops at times to keep the pressure down. He put me on some more to see if I can tolerate them. If so them I will stay on them. He also removed the film or scar that forms on the eye after cataract removal with laser. I was seeing through what looked to be a fog. I was continually wiping my reading glasses thinking they had a film on them and wiping that eye to clear the vision. I am seeing some floaters this week after the laser was done which is annoying. Makes me think a mosquito is flying in front of my face. I have swatted my hand at it several times LOL. I go back next Monday and let him check it and if everything is ok, if so then he will schedule Cataract surgery soon on the other eye. Things are beginning to look dim through it. I wanted to get it fixed before the end of the year when insurances will probably change and it might not be covered.
Ken's macular degeneration is gradually getting worse.
Well I better get off here as a big clap of thunder just happened right overhead.
Have a blessed day everybody. Helen





The body on this one didn't focus good but you can see the hairs on it's legs and the web on the flower.

Slowly but surely

Well Mira is in her second week at school. Three days last week she worked half days and two days she had to stay all day but so far this week she is working half days. Someone drove her most of last week but last Friday and since then she is driving herself. It has been really rough on her but she is still wearing her back brace and using the PVC pipe pole Ken made for her. It helps her to sit down and get back up and to walk also. Gives her some stability. She is not using her walker now. She will restart her pool therapy Friday after school. Her friends have been going and getting groceries for her.
She still needs all the prayers anyone can send up for her.

I have been taking it easy since she had been gone but my body is still tired even though I am taking the iron tablets and B12 shots. I still stay tired when actually I am not doing much of anything but getting us small meals and very little housework.

Ken is trying to keep the grass cut which grows so fast it actually needs cutting twice a week. It's been really hot but it's supposed to cool down a little this week. He got too hot one day. He is only able to cut a few rounds at a time. His eyes are gradually getting worse. I just thank God he was able to see to get Mira to and from the hospital and doctors when she had to make those trips to Birmingham.

Today we go back to our regular family doc for a checkup.
Thank you all again for your many prayers, good positive comments and good thoughts for all of us.
Ken has been taking a lot of pears off to the dumpster because there are so many falling.



Another wildflower which I don't know the name of.


Have a blessed day everyone. Helen

Gone back home

Well Ken took Mira back to her surgeon Thursday and he gave the ok that she could work half days for two weeks and then get in touch with in at the end of that time to see if she would be able to work full time. Her school ok-ed for her to do that which I was glad of. She went back home last night. One of her teacher friends and her hubby came over and got her. She had not been home since the 2nd day of May I believe it was. She says she has been laying around today and taking it easy. I just pray that she will be able to hold out at school. Sitting and standing is still hard for her to do.
All those prayers, and good thoughts and words of encouragement has really helped her out. Thank you all so much.
I have just been taking it easy today. Trying to rest this old back of mine.
Ken has been cleaning house some today. It really needed it.
Have a blessed afternoon everyone.
Helen
Here are a couple of pretties for you.

Sorry I have not updated lately

Just a quick entry to say that I am sorry I haven't updated lately.
Mira is doing much better and hopes to return to work soon.
I just pray that when she does she can hold out without a lot of pain.
She has a call in to her surgeon's office to see if she can see him soon to get the ok to go back to work. She has been doing pool therapy several times since I made an entry. It is helping her to build some of her muscles back. She has walked a few times without her walker. Sometimes she uses the pole Ken made for her and still uses the walker at times also. She still wears her back brace when she is up. We had a healing service with my aunt and uncle one day last week and it seems that she is steadily getting better.

Now on to me, I did have those test done and the doc didn't see anything wrong with my throat or in the colonscopy area either. Guess those Prontix tabs are helping. I still have some acid reflux though. I also had my antibiotics filled again this week for the bleeding that was coming from my kidneys. I had got really weak again so decided to go ahead and do that. In a couple of weeks I will go back to my regular doc and have them tested again. Ken and I both have appointments to see him then.

Thanks again to all of you for your prayers, good thoughts, and encouraging comments.
Love to you all, Helen

We feel like a Miracle is happening

We feel like a miracle is taking place. Mira went back to her back doc Wed and did not get good news. She cried most of the evening. Her MRI showed the Staph had ate almost all of that disk away. She said it looked like Swiss cheese. She still had not walked any without her walker and was still in tremendous pain.
We began to pray that a miracle would happen. Well yesterday and today she hasn't been in very much pain and walking and getting around is so much easier. In fact she used her walker to come into the bedroom where I was and had me watch her. She turned loose of that walker and made a circle in the room before going back to the walker. Thank The Good Lord. We pray that she will continue to get better each day.
We truly thank each one of you for your prayers, comments and good thoughts.

Now on to me. I did go to our surgeon Wednesday and he set up my light bulb down the throat thing and a colonoscopy for early next Monday. I dread the prep on Sunday. For those of you who have done that knows it is not a fun thing to do.

Here are a couple of our Monkey face flowers.





Have a blessed weekend everybody. Helen

One thing after another

Sunday evening I got so weak I could hardly walk across the floor. Chest pains and pressure and I thought I was going to pass out. I went ahead and toughed it out because I thought acid reflux was the problem. I have done that about 3 times with acid reflux in the past. Early Monday morning we went on to the emergency room where I stayed for several hours and they admitted me where I stayed until mid afternoon today. They did all kinds of blood work and X-rays along with a stress test given by meds and scans. The chest hurting was acid related but the weakness was caused by me being anemic. The doc said I was losing blood some where and was going to do the light bulb thing tomorrow. After my insurance found out it wasn't my heart they wouldn't pay for another night in the hospital so I will have to have that done as an outpatient later. I will call tomorrow and set up a time to get that done. I still have some blood in my urine also and it wasn't mentioned when they dismissed me. I will try to get this stomach issue done with before I take any antibiotics for the kidneys. I don't think my tummy could take any right now. I just took some for that about 3 weeks ago.
We never know what is going to crop up next. Poor Ken had to worry about me and be here with Mira some to help her with her IV and fix her something to eat part of the time because she can't stand long enough to do that. She is not doing any better with that back. Still using the walker to get short distances. We still need your prayers and good thoughts.

Mira sent some flowers to me in the hospital today so I had to take a picture so everyone could see them. I was very proud to get them. She said she wanted to send them to me for everything I had done for her besides she only had one Mother LOL.



Love to you all. Helen

Mira is home

Or maybe I should say Mira is here. Her home is in another place. She will stay here for a few days. A really good friend went to the hospital and got her yesterday and brought here here. It was late when they turned her loose and it was close to midnight by the time they got her meds filled on the way home, got here and we got into bed. She is still having some of the A-fib but they put her on medication so hopefully when she gets settled in it will get better. She is still having to use a walker to walk short places and her back is still giving her trouble. She will be on some antibiotics for two more weeks. This one will be so much shorter time than the other one was. Thank you so much for your comments, Prayers and good thoughts.
Cardinal sunning. I took this one this morning through the storm door.



Have a blessed day everyone. Helen